The Senior Center offered the bus trips regularly until March, when the 2006 bus the town operated broke down, Gomes said. Repairs were too expensive to justify the cost.

“We heard from RIPTA that they had a bus they were taking out of service,” Town Administrator Matthew Wojcik said. “They are willing to donate it to the Town of Tiverton for use as a senior bus.”

Gomes and a town mechanic will visit the RIPTA garage in Providence to look at the 2007 bus being offered to the town.

“We want to make sure we really want it,” Gomes said. “In the past, RIPTA has been very good to us. We’ve gotten all the buses we use from them. They have been very supportive.”

State Rep. John Edwards worked with the town to convince RIPTA officials to send their next spare bus this way, Wojcik said. Once the mechanic has examined the bus, a checklist will be developed for repairs. The town will know then when the bus service will continue, town officials said.

When the previous bus was running, seniors in town would sign up and get picked up at their homes.

The bus would go to the New Harbour Mall, Stop & Shop, Seabra and Walmart on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, the bus would make the rounds of businesses in North Tiverton on Main Road. On the second and fourth Friday of the month, the bus would alternate between the Swansea Mall and the Dartmouth Mall, Gomes said.

“The bus leaves from the Senior Center but we do door to door pick up and drop off,” Gomes said. “The town is really good to its seniors.

“As long as they live in Tiverton, they get service.”

If the bus passes inspection, the town will determine when the bus will be ready to resume the weekly service, Gomes said.